Today there are only 29 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand. There are 35 more recovered cases. The combined overall number of cases is 1,239. There are 14 people in hospital, with four people in ICU.

A reported 41% of cases have an overseas link, with 44% linked to known cases, and 2% confirmed community transmission. That leaves 13% still under investigation. A total of 3,990 tests were processed yesterday.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a new plan to quarantine those coming into the country. From midnight tonight, every returning New Zealander will undergo quarantine or “managed self-isolation in an approved facility” for 14 days. A network of up to 18 hotels will be used, with one or two devoted to those “under strict quarantine conditions”, that is, those who are symptomatic or being tested.

Scaled up and faster use of contact tracing will also be introduced. She will be discussing with the Singaporean prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, their use of tracing technology, later today.

She also said testing needed to expand further, with surveillance testing being introduced “to ensure we have greater levels of certainty around the decline of the virus’s spread”.

Ardern said more details on the shift to alert level three would be provided next week. A decision “on next steps” would be taken by cabinet on April 20. That means “if we are ready to move to alert level three, business will have two days to implement arrangements”.

She reiterated there was no prospect of moving out of lockdown sooner. “If we move too early, we will go backwards.”